


It Just Had to Be Cat Ears

by Boogum



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Humor, Identity Reveal, Romance, ladrien, trapped together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27709346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boogum/pseuds/Boogum
Summary: Adrien had hoped that the Lucky Charm would answer their problems. Instead, it gave them cat ears. Plastic cat ears.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 26
Kudos: 391





	1. No Matter What

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was originally written for fictober 2019, days 4 and 5. It was supposed to be a one-shot but ethereal-violett requested a continuation
> 
> Day 4: "I know you didn't ask for this."

"I'm sorry, Adrien," Ladybug said, frowning at the pile of rubble that blocked their only exit. "I don't think I can move this, not without bringing the ceiling down on us."

Adrien tensed. "You mean we're trapped?"

"For now, but don't worry. Chat Noir can get us out with his cataclysm no problem." She opened her yoyo, only to freeze at whatever was displayed on the small screen.

"What?"

"Chat … he still hasn't responded." She forced a smile. "Well, I'm sure he'll turn up soon."

He repressed a wince. "And if he doesn't?"

"He will. He's never let me down."

Adrien managed a strained smile. The moment she looked away, he balled his hands into fists and tried not to start pacing. Much as he was touched by her faith in his superhero persona, they needed to find another way to get out soon. Chat Noir was definitely not coming to their rescue, not when there was no way for him to transform without her seeing.

She stepped away from the rubble. A hiss escaped her and her left foot arched off the ground as if burnt, making her wobble.

Adrien rushed to steady her. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine."

It was then that he realised he was holding her waist. His cheeks warmed and he released her. She also blushed and looked off to the side. Real smooth. It was so much harder to play it cool when he wasn't in the suit. No mask meant nothing to hide behind. It was just him and his lady, and his heart kept stuttering all over the place whenever they got close, his tongue got stuck in knots, and now they were trapped together and—

She tried to take another step and flinched, sucking in a sharp breath. Something plummeted in his stomach, snagging on things here and there like a jagged rock.

"You're not okay," he said heavily.

She bit her lip. "I think I hurt my ankle."

"That's because you took the full impact of that fall for us." He blinked, realising he sounded a bit too scolding for Adrien Agreste. Heat crawled up his face. "I-I mean, you didn't have to do that. Paris needs you in one piece more than it needs me."

Her eyes turned soft when she met his gaze. "I have a magic suit to protect me. Besides, I didn't want you to get hurt again." She brushed her fingertip against the stinging spot on his cheek—the spot where a bit of metal had grazed skin.

_Thump, thump._

The quickening beat of his heart pulsed in his ears. His breath caught in his throat. "It's just a scratch," he managed to get out. "It's nothing."

"It's still one scratch too many."

_Thump, thump, thump._

Something shifted in her gaze, becoming more intense. More earnest. "I'm sorry, Adrien. I know you didn't ask for this, and I hope you know it's not your fault that girl got akumatised."

"She is my fan," he felt obliged to point out. "I kind of did cause this one."

"You can't be expected to date every fan who decides to fall in love with you."

Fair point. He'd tried his best to reject the girl as gently as he could, but she'd still been upset enough to become prey to Hawk Moth. Now, he and Ladybug were trapped in this room while that poor girl was mindlessly terrorising Paris. Even from here, he could hear the crashing rumbles and screams.

He twisted his miraculous ring round and round his finger. "Um, Chat Noir is taking a while, don't you think?"

She checked her yoyo again, but of course there were no messages. "You're right."

"Maybe something happened to him. Maybe he really can't make it."

She bit her lip, her brow creasing. "There is one thing I can try that might be able to help us get out of here, but …"

"But what?"

"If it doesn't work, I'll only have five minutes before I transform back. You'd see me without my mask."

He swallowed. "That seems like a big risk."

"But maybe one I have to take. Hang on."

He didn't get a chance to react. Her yoyo was already swinging into the air as she called upon her Lucky Charm. Plastic cat ears fell into her hand. The weight that had settled in his stomach seemed to plummet even more. All he could do was stare at the tacky costume prop.

Cat ears. It just had to be cat ears.

"Huh," she said, peering around the windowless storage room. "I guess we do have to wait for Chat Noir."

"No."

Her gaze darted to his, eyebrows rising in question.

"I'm sorry," he said thickly, backing up a few steps to more space between them. "I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this."

"What are you—"

"Plagg!" He thrust his fist forward, silver ring glinting. "Transform me!"

Her jaw dropped as Plagg appeared from the inner pocket of Adrien's jacket and got sucked into the ring. Green light flared. The transformation was over in seconds, leaving him standing before her in black leather. For the first time, he felt more exposed wearing the mask.

"Um, surprise?" he said with a sheepish wave.

Ladybug screamed.


	2. Marinette.exe Has Stopped Functioning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: "I might just kiss you."

It was hard to focus on the akuma. All Marinette could think was: _Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste, Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste. Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir. The boy I love is Chat Noir. Wait, I have rejected the boy I love. Several times. For the boy I love …_

_OH MY—_

"Ladybug!"

Right. She still had an akuma to purify.

One lucky charm, a cataclysm, and a miraculous ladybug cure later, and Chat Noir was holding out his fist for a good old pound it. She blinked. She stared. She probably looked like an idiot who had been caught in the Chatlights.

Her earrings beeped.

"My lady?" He wiggled his fist, eyebrow rising.

She made a real intelligent sound like _abah blaah_.

He lowered his hand and took a step closer. This time she managed a _meep_.

"Um, would it be better if I just leave?" he asked.

"No!"

He paused, waiting with his head tilted like a curious cat. No further words wanted to come out of her mouth. Marinette.exe had stopped functioning. Because she had kissed this boy, more than once, and all that time it had been Adrien she'd been kissing. All that time the gorgeous, sweet classmate she had fallen in love with had been her dorky, pun-loving partner, and she had kissed him, more than once, and—oh no, she was stuck on loop again.

"You," she said. A coherent word. Yay! "You. You …"

Oops. This was the one-word trap zone. Abort, abort!

He tilted his head the other way. "Is this because of what happened? Are you mad because you know who I am now? Look, I really am sorry about that. I know you didn't want to know my identity, and I tried to hold out as long as I could, but you wouldn't leave me alone when I kept saying I could get away safely on my own, and then we got trapped in that room and—"

She walked forward and stood up on her tiptoes to grab his cheeks. He froze mid-word. She smooshed his cheeks in to give him fish lips.

"Um," he said, blinking at her with those big green eyes. "Ladybug?"

She stared and stared into his eyes. His cheeks and lips were still smooshed comically.

"It really is you, right?" she asked. "I didn't just imagine that Adrien Agreste turned into Chat Noir right in front of me?"

"Uh, no." He looked off to the side. "Honestly, I was kind of hoping the miracle cure would wipe that bit from your memory …"

She let go of his cheeks. "Wait, you don't want me to know?"

" _You_ didn't want to know! You said it like a million times!"

That was true.

"And now you're being all weird," he accused.

Also true. So painfully true.

"And I just—I just—" He grabbed at his hair, obviously frustrated. "I didn't want it to be like this. I wanted this reveal, if there was to be one, to be something you asked for. I wanted it to be mutual." He grasped her shoulders and his eyes were like green fire when they met hers, burning and intense. "I wanted you to _want_ to know me."

Oh.

_Oh._

Her mind fizzled. Her heart pounded and pounded. Marinette.exe had definitely stopped functioning again. How could she help it when he looked at her all passionately and spoke to her in _that_ tone of voice—the kind that belonged to a hero in some movie declaring his love to the heroine while heavy rain fell all around. But there was no rain here. There was just her and Chat Noir on a rooftop, her and Adrien on a rooftop, because they were the same person. The two most important boys in her life were the same person, and holy heck now she could see it!

Her hands clamped back onto his cheeks. He blinked.

"Adrien," she said softly.

"Y-yes?"

Her earrings gave another beep. This time his ring joined in.

"Ladybug, you're going to transform back soon," he felt obliged to point out. "You only have one spot left."

"I don't care."

"But—"

"I don't care," she repeated, her heart pounding faster and faster until all she could hear and feel was the thundering beat.

There were so many thoughts racing in her mind, so many things she wanted to say. ( _I might just kiss you_ being very high on the list.) There was a chance Tikki would disapprove of what she planned to do next, but half the truth was already out, and he looked so uncertain and confused. So adorable.

"I do want to know you," Marinette whispered. "And I … I want you to know me."

His eyes widened.

The final beep. Red and black faded in pink sparkles. Marinette was left standing in her ordinary clothes, no mask to be seen. Tikki fluttered off inside her purse to recharge with a cookie, mercifully not saying anything.

"Um, hi?" Marinette said, giving him the same awkward wave he had given her.

"You." His eyes softened and he surged forward to wrap his arms around her, holding her tight. "Of course. Of course it's you. How could I have been so stupid not to see it?"

She closed her eyes and just _melted_ into his embrace. It was a long, long time before they left the roof.


End file.
